Published: Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 4:18 p.m.

The Galaxy Middle School Science Olympiad team at the Northeast Regional Competition in February.

Photo by Kathleen Rasche

Co-coach, teacher Brian Innes, said he was thrilled because the students hurdled over two major obstacles in the qualifying regional competition; they are a very young team, made up mostly of sixth-graders, and they were competing against several private schools with larger budgets that concentrate on science curriculum.

Science Olympiads is an after-school activity. Members learn technical and engineering skills with hands-on experiments, testing and essay skills that ready them for the Olympiad competitions. At Galaxy, 35 students participate; four eighth-, six seventh- and 25 sixth-grade students.

Ramesa Ahasan, 14, is one of the eighth-grade members.

"Science interests me so much with all the possibilities. You can learn new, exciting things. It's a challenge and I like a challenge, "said Ahasan.

Science Olympiads started in the Macomb County school district, Michigan in 1982. The idea came from a magazine article about a science competition in Delaware. It's now a national science experiment marathon. Teachers are given free lesson plans, rules and project criteria. Students then practice building the projects and study together for the competition.

In February, Galaxy students, split into two teams, took third and fourth place in the Northeast Regional competition. Sixth-graders Seth Walley and Brittney Soukup joined the team this year.

"I was very nervous (at regional)," said Walley. "You have to work quickly, efficiently and precisely in experimental design. I liked to form the experiment from hypothesis to application in less than an hour."

Sydney Moss, 13, worked on the Mission Possible task in the regional competition. She's confident her team can take first at state and move into the national competition.

"We have a pretty strong team. Everybody is focused," said Moss.

Her teammate, Taylor Huggins, 11, described the competition as an adrenaline rush.

"You're going from one place to another (performing experiments) and studying in between as you go," said Huggins.

What strength does she bring to the team? "I remember anything I read," said Huggins, smiling.

Co-coach, teacher Jeff Krob, said training for a win is the reason the students meet twice each week. "We're competing in the state level and we're a public school system," said Krob, emphasizing the word public. "We are on par with (private) science schools."

The state tournament will be held at the University of Central Florida on March 23.

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